Jonathan Ross and Tommy Lee Edwards - Turf

Slightly clunky comic debut from the TV personality

(Titan)

Yes that Jonathon Ross. The chat show host has long been an acknowledged geek with a superhero fixation, so perhaps it’s high time he stepped up to take the reigns on his own comic title. And he certainly goes for it, all guns blazing, with a mix of vampires, aliens and gangsters set in prohibition-era New York.

A clan of vampires plan to wake ‘the Old One’ from his slumber as they attempt to take over New York, but they hadn’t counted on resistance from the indigenous Tommy gun-wielding criminals who find an unlikely ally in a crash landed creature from outer space.

The main problem is Ross’ heavy exposition, dense descriptive panels and speech bubbles that almost drown out Tommy Lee Edwards’ gritty artwork. It’s a very old fashioned approach to comics. Things improve by the second issue and the action flows more readily as the various elements all link together. It’s a fun mash-up of styles but nothing in the horror, crime or sci-fi elements really reach beyond tried and tested stereotypes. It’s certainly not an embarrassing effort from Ross but it would benefit from some streamlining.